MiP Podcast + HiFi Reading Series Event Nov. 4th in NYC!

I am increasingly stoked about this reading happening tomorrow at HiFi Bar in the East Village! The Minorities in Publishing podcast was asked to curate the November reading for the HiFi Reading Series created by fellow writers & publishing professionals Lena Valencia & Ryan Britt. And I am honored not only to have been asked but to present these 4 generous, talented, and active artists in the industry.

Stop by for a drink, some smooth readings, and of course--because I'm me after all--cupcakes from Molly's Cupcakes! Reading starts at 8:15pm but get there early for seats!

Copies of Daniel José Older's critically-acclaimed fantasy Shadowshaper (Scholastic, 2015) will be available for sale thanks to PowerHouse Books and Daniel will happily sign copies.

Daniel José Older  is the author of the acclaimed YA fantasy Shadowshaper with Scholastic Inc., a finalist for the 2015 Kirkus Prize and recently named by Publisher's Weekly as one of the Best Fantasy Books of 2015. He is also the author of the Bone Street Rumba urban fantasy series that began this year with Half-Resurrection Blues from Penguin’s Roc imprint. The next book in the series is Midnight Taxi Tango releasing in January 2016.Publishers Weekly hailed him as a “rising star of the genre” after the publication of his debut ghost noir collection, Salsa Nocturna. He co-edited the anthology Long Hidden: Speculative Fiction from the Margins of History and guest edited the music issue of Crossed Genres. Daniel’s work has appeared on Buzzfeed, The Guardian, and Huffington Post, among other publications.

Glendaliz Camacho is a Pushcart Prize nominee, 2015 Write A House Finalist, and currently a recipient of a Lower Manhattan Cultural Council Workspace residency. She has been an artist in residence at Jentel, Caldera, Kimmel Harding Nelson, and Hedgebrook. Glendaliz is a proud VONA Voices alum. Her work appears in The Female Complaint (Shade Mountain Press), Soulmate 101 and Other Essays on Love and Sex (Full Grown People) and All About Skin: Short Fiction by Women of Color (University of Wisconsin Press), as well as The Butter, Saraba Magazine, and Kweli Journal, among others. She is currently working on a short story collection and novel.

Courtney Gillette is an essayist and reviewer, reviewing books for Lambda Literary since 2010. She co-hosts The Hustle reading series, helps behind the scenes at BinderCon, and has served as a judge for the Lambda Literary Awards. In 2013, her work was chosen by A.M. Homes for The Masters Review, and nominated for a Pushcart Prize. She lives in Brooklyn with one bookseller and three cats.

Ennis Smith is a native of Cincinnati, Ohio. His work has been published inCreative Nonfiction Magazine, Ganymede, Mr. Beller’s Neighborhood, and the nonfiction anthology Lost and Found: Stories from New York (W.W. Norton). Other credits include Boys in the City (Bruno Gmunder Verlag GmbH), In Our Own Write, and dance and theater criticism in Attitude: The Dancer’s Magazine. He is a graduate of The New School’s graduate creative writing program.

Week-long social media hiatus: Hits & misses

As mentioned in my "I'm not doing NaNoWriMo" post in November I decided to try a one-week hiatus from social media and parts of the web. This meant NO (absolutely none) Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Google +, YouTube, or Goodreads and any other social media I may have inadvertently downloaded on my iPod or use as a time-wasting source. This is what happens when you get off social media and things start getting real...

Day 1 (Sunday): Did freelance work for the majority of the day and drafted a new YA novel idea. During blank moments the urge to check Facebook/Twitter was immediate, but held out. Checked email periodically to see updates on dinner with friends that evening, visited the MTA Weekender (a necessary resource in NYC now), posted edited files to project manager on shared server, and checked restaurant webpage for a sudden change in dinner plans.

Day 2 (Monday): First day at work during the hiatus, a place where I cannot turn off the wifi. Cheated for one second by checking Milk Truck's status on Twitter to see if they were in my neighborhood. Alas, their truck was in the shop. Checked email and got a good amount of work done for a short work week. Composed many tweets in my head. Saw pumpkin choco chip cookies I offered to donate for Pinay in Texas's online bake sale auction got sold for $30!

At a reading my friend Erin participated in that evening took pictures and wanted to share/post them, but could not. Also wanted to note quotes of passages at reading and tag the mini Ragdale reunion we had in NYC. Two friends have asked "How are you doing?" (in terms of my abstaining from social media) as though I had the look of someone going through withdrawal.

Erin kept saying, "She has 20,000 tweets!" at an after party for the reading and I kept rebutting "It's only 18,000."

Day 3 (Tuesday): Watched CBS This Morning and saw a story about a company using Beastie Boys songs without permission and then suing the Beastie Boys for misogynistic lyrics which had NOTHING to do with anything! (Note this has since been resolved.) Had all these thoughts about copyright infringement that I'd like to tweet about and post in support of artists who've had a lot of stuff jacked from them over the years. Laughed at my own tweets to myself.

While sorting through edits in a manuscript at work thought of more barbs about the frustration I had with an author who plucked images from the web and inserted them into her manuscript without noting permission. Hashtag #workwoes kept popping into my head.

Checked personal email a bit more than usual out of habit of checking something. BUT, maintained momentum with work and did not check Instagram, Goodreads, Facebook, Google+, YouTube, or Twitter (despite an email that noted a new follower). Wondered how many Buzzfeed and Thought Catalog links I was missing that friends may be posting.

In Ned Stark voice "Winter (storm) is coming..."

Day 4 (Wednesday): Last day at work for the week. Got more work done but was itching a lot to quickly check Twitter or FB even with a tight deadline looming for early December. What were people doing for Thanksgiving prep?! I had to know. Instead, I had ramen and scrolled through NY Times frontpage online.

Did Thanksgiving prep and, again, wanted to post the recipes I was making but did not. Cleaned apartment and started food items for guests on Thanksgiving.

Day 5 (Thursday): Thanksgiving. Spent three hours combing through Door Buster sales and ended up buying a new laptop. This is what happens when I do not go on social media. I purchase things. Things I need but still... Jotted some ideas down for the new YA novel idea. Still itched to update the new book I'm reading on Goodreads. And it seems every site I went to for shopping (Sony, Samsung, Dell, Microsoft) asked me to visit their Facebook page for more details. Bastards.

Made kick ass Thanksgiving meal and the best chicken I will ever make in my life thanks to recipes from Fine Cooking magazine and could not post them! You know what they say. If there are no pictures/tweets it didn't happen. But trust me it did!

Watched more episodes of Orange is the New Black once guests left.

Day 6 (Friday): Sugar overload. I have a cake and a pie so come over if you would like any please!

Anywho, wrote for several hours in the morning until afternoon. Really did want to check FB and Twitter to see what people were doing the day after Thanksgiving but abstained, of course. Kept clicking back on Google Chrome and staring at the screen not knowing what to do besides check email, even though no one is sending emails!, and then would log off again to go back to writing. Made cookie dough for Cookie Takedown, couldn't tweet about it. Wrote some more. Did freelance work. Watched more Orange is the New Black. 

Day 7 (Saturday): Exercised, went shopping for more cookie supplies for online bake sale and Cookie Takedown. Made shrimp fried rice. Ate more pie (seriously people I have lots & cake so come over). Updated my blog post. Wrote for a few hours. And did more freelance work.

And, yes, the urge was still strong to check Facebook and Twitter. Even got an alert from Twitter that Kelly Lynch (the Kelly Lynch from L Word and Curly Sue!) favorited a tweet of mine that she was mentioned in saying she's hot! Good God what is going ON on the internet right now?!?

Misses: I wonder if I really did miss social media or if I just instinctively go to it when I want a break, or an excuse for a break. As in, I can no longer hold my attention on certain tasks for long periods of time and thus search for a reason to divert my attention. It's an interesting thing to consider.

I did miss hearing about my friends lives though. Admittedly, I have become reliant on Facebook, Twitter, and Goodreads to update me on my friends' lives/interests/birthdays. And I do love the Twitter community I have connected with over the past few years. Whether it be work irritations, family obligations, new events like babies and weddings, or just a link that we can relate to or media news I did miss interacting people about funny comments or shared concerns. So yeah, I missed y'alls. :-)

Realizations: I realized I advertise a lot of my thoughts and my day online. I mean, a crap load. I didn't think 18,000 tweets was a lot until I thought about it after Erin said it. I mean DAMN that's a lot of tweets for 3 years. It's not Maureen Johnson high but still.

I post a lot of pictures of food I make and whenever I have, what I think, is a witty thing to say I quickly sum it up and post before it leaves my head. But now I had to let that thought fade from my mind or perhaps use it in my writing in another capacity.

Being offline forced me to get stuff done with none of my regular distractions and I was interested to see I didn't go to other sites like NY Times or BBC News and read voraciously to spend time but just kept checking email and then went back to work or watched TV or read one of my magazines. It seemed I was searching for quickie ways to distract me and things that weren't too "heavy."

Benefits: I got stuff done. I forced myself to focus more without the rest of these social media aspects as a deterrent. It was like it was 2003 again and I didn't have a lot to take me away from projects outside of human interaction (phone calls, talking to co-workers). I was forced to be productive again and with the holiday it was helpful as I had a couple extra days off to cook, bake, write, and do freelance so I didn't feel like my time was so sparse. I got writing tasks done that I may not have completed had I been on Facebook detailing my steps for making Thanksgiving dinner on Thursday or if I had discussed the sugar coma I was in and shows I was watching on Friday. Nope, I worked and did stuff around the apartment and got to bed at a reasonable hour to get up and do it again.

Overall Thoughts: Would I make this a regular thing? Yes. Because I was productive. Because it forced me to focus. Because not being on FB, Twitter, Goodreads, YouTube, Google +, etc. was not the end of the world. It did keep me from knowing more about what people are up to or more about events or deadlines and such but those are things you can catch up on, especially if you subscribe to digests and other webpages and simply call/email/write people. Would I completely remove myself from all social media? No. It is useful in various ways especially for me as a writer and food blogger. To extricate myself from social media would not be helpful to me building a community and audience for my interests in writing and food blogging.

However, I would, and hope to, regularly take breaks from social media. Perhaps one week every month to get the full sense of being productive. It may wean me away from social media slowly or teach me to prioritize better. Realistically, you can find any distractions be it on the internet or in life. You can clean every nook and cranny in your house rather than writing that tense scene in your book. You can go out with friends instead of doing freelance work. You can binge on TV. You can shop on ebay and Amazon.com or other sites (like Powells.com or Bookish.com) or read news sites and food blogs for hours on end. But for me I realized that I continuously was on Facebook and Twitter when stuff needed to get done and it seemed a problem. Not a horrible problem but still something I needed to be in more control of. So was it hard? Yes. Habits die hard. Was it worth it? Yes, as any experiment will help you learn more about yourself.

Online Bake Sale for Philippine Typhoon Victims, #bakesale4pinas

On Monday, Tina De Guzman of Pinay in Texas will be holding an online bake sale with proceeds going to those in need after the major destruction of Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines a couple weeks ago. Thousands of people are reported dead/missing and the damage is extensive with a big need for food, water, and shelter by citizens of various districts in this country.

I'm sure you've seen pictures of the destruction and many have been doing great things to help. My buddy Courtney is also holding her own bake sale to donate proceeds to those in need for this cause.

My contribution is a couple dozen freshly made pumpkin chocolate chip cookies.

These are one of my fave things to make in general and particularly come fall. So, stop by Tina's site on Monday, November 25th and review the list of goods that not just I but many bakers, bloggers, culinary professionals will be offering up for purchase and just in time for the Thanksgiving holiday. Please spread the word and stop by to donate or make a donation to places such as the Red Cross.

Happy holidays and lets hope for lots more aid to the Philippines.

You #NaNoWriMo, I'm Taking a Break

'Tis that time of year again. When writers all over choose to accept the challenge to write a novel or what-have-you that amounts to (at least) 50,000 words in a span of 30 days for National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo or NaNo). Madness? To some. Inconvenient? Perhaps. November is the official start of the holiday season. And for those with families, in school, or just in general trying to write period can be hard fought without the deadlines. However, deadlines work for many people. Just sayin'.

This year it's been difficult for me to balance my creative, professional, and personal life. In the end 2 out of 3 of these things got more focus with me often saying "I'll catch up on writing later." I've written a bunch: for Fiction Femme Fatale every month, for my blog bi-weekly (if not more) as well. I wrote and rewrote query letters galore and have edited in long stretches or small snippets. Not a week goes by that I don't write something. But in terms of my short story Collection? The headway made isn't as much as I anticipated.

I was considering NaNo. I'd like to focus on revising my Collection OR drafting a contemporary YA book with a male protagonist. I've had the new YA idea since late last year. But, now that I am finished with one YA book do I want to pursue another or really stick to one major project along with several shorter stories/essays on the side?

The upside is that when I was sick of the Collection I went to my YA sci-fi book and vice versa. But now that the YA sci-fi book is out for querying it's mainly the Collection. And I need to consider how I can utilize my time well for either work. I'd like to think that this is the time for me to pull up my straps and steer this Collection to where I've wanted it to be since its inception. Yet a new project with no set guidelines on where to revise or edit or finesse it is a bit more fun in terms of letting go.

Either way I do plan to write. Many December deadlines loom that I must fulfill and frankly if there's time I should utilize it. But this did get me thinking about time management. And a fellow writer Courtney had a month where she went offline. Yup, completely offline with some rules. No social media or internet and barely checking email. While I can't not check email daily because of my full-time job and my pending freelance projects I am thinking it's time for me to make November a Break Month. Meaning NO social media primarily. I'm going to start off with a week of no social media (no Twitter, Facebook, Goodreads, LinkedIn, etc.). After that week of going cold turkey I'll set in other barriers such as looking at Facebook twice a day and Twitter twice a day and such. Not repeatedly checking for more information. I'll be limiting my internet use to specific sites (no Buzzfeed or HuffPo as easy distractions). No, I'll be looking more at NY Times, Washington Post, and BBC News. Without FB or Twitter it'll be easier not to look at all these random lists people post online.

The goal for me in November is to prioritize. Maybe I'll end up writing/revising 50,000 words inadvertently for NaNoWriMo. Maybe I'll just do a lot of freelance work. Or I may do a crapton of baking. But my goal is to use less time online just wasting time because it's easy. If I'm going to waste it I won't waste it looking at a screen but going outside, baking, reading, and more than hopefully writing. My goal for November is not just to write but to find a method that makes me get stuff done with as few distractions as possible.

So, happy writing whether you do NaNo or not. Either way I hope your days are productive.